On the Road
by SkyChasingDreamer
Summary: The boys spend some time together while on the road to their next destination and the undercurrent of tension between them is obvious to everyone... except themselves. GinHijiGin. WARNING: This is an AU, if you do not like AUs, do not read.


**Title**: On the Road

**Pairing**: Gintoki/Hijikata

**Rating**: PG

**For**: Happy Valentine's Day, Lavi part 1/2

**Disclaimer**: No

**A/N**: Little slice of life exert thing from a band AU Lavi and I have talked a little bit about.

**On the Road**

**((The Life and Times of Natural Perm Hair))**

Hijikata turns the volume up on his iPod as the band bus trucks on to take them to their next destination. It's a longer trip, but the bus is outfitted for specifically that, so it's comfortable. The notebook he has out is full of scribbles and smudges and somewhere in there is the music bars. What he's listening to is just the tune, a generic beat of how he wants it to go. On the paper he has written out what instruments he wants to play at what parts, but there's a part at the end he can't figure out.

It's getting to be later in the day and Hijikata zones out with his knees pulled to his chest so his notebook can be spread out on them like they're a table. He replays the tune over and over and makes changes each time, adding notes, taking them away. The track he made is all done without instruments, it's literally just a tone, but he can envision what he wants to come into play and when. Well, can mostly envision, it's a work in progress. The hardest part is matching up the instruments with the lyrics and getting that to work in a cohesive way. He enjoys it though, it's something he's passionate about and that's all the incentive he needs.

Gintoki comes over and Hijikata is already taking one of his headphones so that by the time Gintoki sits, he can hand it to him. Gintoki puts it in his ear and raises his legs to mirror Hijikata's position with his knees up. He pulls the notebook closer to himself so they can share it and his head starts bobbing a little as the tune Hijikata had patched together the last time he'd had access to a studio. Gintoki follows along with the music written on the sheet and takes Hijikata's pencil when the music reaches the cut off at the end.

"What're you gonna put there?"

Hijikata clicks pause. "Haven't decided. Ya like it so far?"

"Yeah, catchy. The lyrics are very... you."

"There needs to be more songs about mayo."

"Uh-huh... and singing about your love for it is the best way to go?"

"Obviously."

"Pft – obviously," Gintoki snorts, rolling his eyes. He taps the tip of the pencil on the blank spot at the end of the song, suggesting, "How 'bout a drum solo? Let Okita-kun loose and when he fades out he holds his last note, then you'n me pick up with an exploding crescendo for one last chorus?"

"I..." Hijikata squints at the paper and starts nodding his head, "I like it. Gimme my pencil back."

He takes it and starts scribbling and erasing and pointing to places with little arrows. He can see it now, how he wants the whole song to go. He changes some notes and writes out the ending chorus, making it louder to blow the audience away, then end abruptly after that. Gintoki has pressed play and started the song over to listen to it again. While Hijikata works, Gintoki occasionally points to certain areas and has Hijikata mark them, probably because he wants to make an adjustment to his own part when the pencil is free.

"Want me to only join you for that last chorus? Just make the end so huge it leaves the people's ears ringin'?"

Hijikata nods and makes a note of it in the margins, muttering, "Just like a mighty mayo bottle."

"Wait... what? No, that's gross."

He stabs Gintoki's leg. "_You're_ gross! Shuddap, lemme finish this before I forget anythin'!"

Gintoki's still gargling about the minor stab wound, but Hijikata ignores him and finishes his scribbles. Other people might have a hard time reading it, but he can make sense of it just fine and that's all that matters. He used to be weird about sharing the stuff he comes up with and he still is, but not so much with Gintoki. They share stuff, really random shit, and Hijikata doesn't quite know how it happened, but over time, Gintoki somehow wormed his way passed the barbed wire surrounding Hijikata.

They stay up awhile longer, it'd already been pretty late when Hijikata had started, and before long, he can't stop yawning. They've had a long few days of interviews and getting things ready for their next performance and that stuff just takes it out of him. He's not a socialite at all, so when he's forced into those situations, they tire him out fast. He'd have stayed with Gintoki longer, but everyone else is going to their bunks and Gintoki is shooing him that way saying he's tired of listening to him yawn. So, he goes, however reluctantly, and bids Gintoki goodnight. Yawning again, Hijikata gets into his bed and closes the curtain, well and ready to pass out.

-o-O-o-

Hijikata doesn't know what wakes up, maybe they hit a bump, maybe he's just restless, but regardless, he's awake. He knows he won't be able to fall back to sleep right away, so he gets up to stretch his legs and move around. It always helps him whenever he wakes up, just do a simple activity like drink a glass of water, then it's easy to fall back to sleep. It's late, nearing two – which, to him, isn't late at all for a concert week or weekend – and everyone else is in their bunks... except one.

Gintoki's bunk, the one right across from his own, is empty and he can see a light on passed the curtain in the very back of the bus that leads to the small room with the plush window seat. He makes his way back there, stepping carefully since he's not fully awake and the bus is rattling a little. The curtains are thick enough that he can't see through them, but not so thick that some light can't permeate them. He pushes his way through and blinks his eyes a few times as they adjust to the new lighting.

"Oi, thought you were sleepin'."

Gintoki looks up from his scrap of paper and lifts his legs to make room for Hijikata to sit across from him. "Can't."

"Can't sleep or can't 'cause you're finishin' somethin'?"

"Sleep."

"Ah."

Before Hijikata sits, he shoves Gintoki's bangs back and presses his palm to his forehead. He doesn't feel hot, so Hijikata sits and turns the overhead light onto a lower setting so it's not as bright.

"You got another one of those?" Hijikata asks, tipping his head toward the beer Gintoki has in one of the cup holders.

"Course I do."

He reaches down and pulls the drawer under his side of the seat open. It's a mini fridge and from it he grabs a cold beer that he uncaps and hands to Hijikata. They ride in a comfortable silence for a bit, Hijikata is waking the rest of the way up and Gintoki is writing away, though, honestly, Gintoki's handwriting is like literal chicken scratch compared to Hijikata's unintelligible scribbles if that says anything.

"You get inspired by somethin'? I haven't seen you concentrate this hard since you were playin' that claw machine awhile back to win that stupid stuffed animal."

Gintoki glares up over his legs. "It wasn't stupid."

"It was. What was it again? Somethin' ungodly furry and ugly."

"It was Totoro!"

"So, yeah, ungodly furry and ugly." Gintoki flips him off and keeps scratching away until Hijikata knocks their legs together. "Never said what you're doin'."

"I've been workin' on that song."

"Oh?"

Hijikata raises a brow at the napkin he'd taken for a scrap of paper. He'd say something, but he has seen Gintoki write on weirder shit than a napkin and use it to jot his notes down. Gintoki gets his guitar that's leaned on the wall to the side of the seat and pulls it into his lap. He takes a sip of beer and sits up cross-legged before he takes hold of the neck. He does a couple practice strums, adjusts one of the tuning pegs, then starts to play.

It's low and soft and without a doubt the song Hijikata had written come to life. It has always sort of amazed him that Gintoki can do that, just hear a tune once and be able to play it back. It's kind of funny because usually Gintoki doesn't have a memory for much, just things he seems important, but when it comes to sugar and music, he never misses a beat. He's pretty amazing, too, at just playing and making a song up as he goes, no one ever knows he's just free styling it, they think it's legitimate.

Gintoki rocks his head with the beat and Hijikata taps his foot right along with it. He has adjusted what Hijikata had originally written, but he hasn't changed the song one bit, just improved upon the base Hijikata created. It's amazing hearing it come to life right at Gintoki's fingertips and it sounds good, so much better than Hijikata had even imagined when playing it out in his head. The notes are given life and Gintoki plays it like he has done it dozens of times before.

Unable to help himself, Hijikata hums at first, then starts singing along with it. The lyrics form with the twang of the guitar and Gintoki grins up at him, chest puffing like he's preening. The sound is low since they can't be too loud and Gintoki slowly starts playing faster and Hijikata sings faster to keep up. Faster and faster he plays and faster Hijikata sings until neither can keep up at all and Gintoki breaks down laughing.

"Well, you like it?"

Hijikata nods, mouth in a flat line – the closest to a smile he usually gets. "It's good."

"Better than good, asshole! C'mon, let's dick around some more."

So, that's what they do. They drink beer and Gintoki plays his guitar and Hijikata sings. They make up random songs and banter about anything that comes to mind and tell stories from different parts of their lives. They sit in silence while Gintoki gently strums his stings and the night passes by almost unnoticed. Time is such a relative thing when they're spending time together and so it comes as no surprise to Hijikata when night gives way to its counterpart.

Sunlight filters in through the window, a faint glow from the sun that's just peeking out behind them. Gintoki's head is tilted so it's leaning against the glass and his eyes are barely open, but he's still awake and watching.

"Okay, c'mon, that's enough." Hijikata reaches over and taps Gintoki's cheek. "Oi, time for bed."

Gintoki whines and weakly hits Hijikata's hand away. "Sleep here."

"No, get up." Hijikata stands and leans down to wrap his arms under Gintoki's. "Grab on, let's go."

Ever the stubborn moron, Gintoki groans and refuses, forcing Hijikata to pull and drag him to his feet. Gintoki has to grab onto him around the shoulders then and Hijikata snorts, doing what he can to keep them standing. He adjusts and tightens his grip so he can walk backward, dragging Gintoki along with him. They stumble their way down the line of the bus and fatigue has mixed with the alcohol so indefinitely that Gintoki is basically a useless mass of human flesh while still managing to retain miniscule consciousness. They get to their bunks and Hijikata pushes Gintoki toward his.

"In."

Gintoki groggily grabs the handles he needs to and hauls himself up into his bed. He struggles a little, so Hijikata takes one of his legs and gives it a push to get him all the way inside. Gintoki's eyes are mere slivers of red and Hijikata puts his hand over them knowing they'll close the rest of the way if he does.

Gintoki groans something completely unintelligible and Hijikata replies offhandedly, "You said it, bastard."

He removes his hand and presto! Gintoki is asleep. Hijikata takes a moment to congratulate himself on a job well done and takes a moment to move Gintoki's arm all the way into the bunk. He thinks about covering him up, but dismisses the idea because of how often Gintoki complains that he gets too hot and stuffy. He doesn't know why he keeps standing there, but his legs don't want to move him just yet and apparently they're the things controlling him right now.

He watches Gintoki sleep and that should be creepy, but he can't bring himself to think so right now. It's hard to see because the bus is so dark, but it's because of the shadows that he realizes Gintoki's hair is longer than he usually keeps it. Licking his dry lips, Hijikata raises a hand and dares to run it through Gintoki's hair. His fingers snag, but don't get tangled and he'd known Gintoki's hair is soft, he's just reacquainting himself. Then there's this one curl that gets wrapped around his pointer finger like it's grabbing onto him. This stupid little perm curl that has such a fragile hold on him – god, he has had too much to drink.

The bus shakes and Hijikata sways, his eyes squinting. He can feel the heat of Gintoki and that makes him suddenly want to get away, back to bed or something. But he can't move because he's still held captive, so he tries to disentangle his finger. He wriggles it and feels the strands tighten... how had he even gotten stuck in the first place? Fucking permy hair and its stupid perm-ness that defies logic and gravity.

"C'mon little guy, get off," Hijikata mumbles, but the strands don't let him go. "Goddamn it, fuckin' thing... leggo!"

He rips his hand free, tearing the little perms – he has definitely had _way_ too much to drink because he imagines them screaming – and Gintoki groans, rolling away so he's facing the wall. Flushing, Hijikata slams the curtain closed and scrambles up into his own bed where he closes his own curtain – the strands of silver hair still wrapped around his finger.

**THE END**


End file.
